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The Commodore 64 Is Back!

Ripping a move from the playbook of German auto manufacturers Volkswagen (the Beetle) and BMW (the Mini), the new owner of early home computer staple the Commodore 64 is revamping the brand but keeping the looks of the original. Nick Bilton reports for the New York Times:

The new Commodore 64, which will begin shipping at the end of the month, has been souped-up for the modern age. It comes with 1.8 gigahertz dual processors, an optional Blu-ray player and built-in ethernet and HDMI ports. The new Commodore is priced between $250 to $900.

The company’s Web site says that the new Commodore 64 is “a modern functional PC,” and that although the guts of the device have greatly improved, the exterior is “as close to the original in design as humanly possible.” Most people would not be able to visibly tell the old or new versions apart, it says.

“The response has been completely dramatic,” Mr. Altman said. “We’ve been averaging about five registrations per second on our Web site. This is from people giving us their name and e-mail address to be kept abreast of updates on the new Commodore.”

Some may wonder why someone would want to purchase this type of computer when a world of iPads and laptops exist.

Mr. Altman says he sees two types of customers for the new computer.

“There are a lot of really young computer users who want to own a retro-looking computer,” he said. ”And of course there are those 30- to 40-year-olds who owned the original Commodore 64 and want the nostalgia of their first machine.”…

This has nothing to do with the Commodore 64. This is just one of several attempts to revive the old Commodore brand. Under the direction of Barry Altman (whose bathroom fixtures company currently has an “F” rating from the BBB), it will surely fail just like the rest of them. No one wants to buy an underpowered commodity PC trapped in the old C64 breadbox case. I wish these charlatans out to make a buck from a dead brand would let Commodore rest in peace already. (Anyone remember the Commodore MP3 players? Or the custom built “gaming” PCs? Oh, no? Not surprising.)

Bud Bundy

My response is dramatic as well.

Meh.

Bud Bundy

My response is dramatic as well.

Meh.

dumbsaint

I just bought a couple commodore 64s and a 128 just last year. They’re cool little objects but I can think of cooler things to build a PC case from

Anonymous

I just bought a couple commodore 64s and a 128 just last year. They’re cool little objects but I can think of cooler things to build a PC case from

http://tonybaldwin.myopenid.com/ tony

The site seems to be down (commodoreusa.net).
What OS will they have?

http://tonybaldwin.myopenid.com/ tony

The site seems to be down (commodoreusa.net).
What OS will they have?

http://thefirstchurchofmutterhals.blogspot.com/ mutterhals

I used to have nightmares about that game with the giant owl.

http://thefirstchurchofmutterhals.blogspot.com/ mutterhals

I used to have nightmares about that game with the giant owl.

Beezey

Oh I thought it was a real C64 that we could take the MOS 6581 SID chips from. They’re just selling PCs with the C64 body. That’s disappointing.

That’s like selling a VW Bug with an engine for a Geo Metro.

Beezey

Oh I thought it was a real C64 that we could take the MOS 6581 SID chips from. They’re just selling PCs with the C64 body. That’s disappointing.

That’s like selling a VW Bug with an engine for a Geo Metro.

Adam

Will it come with the original Zork trilogy by Infocom?

Boom, I just leveled up! Take that meaningful relationships!

Adam

Will it come with the original Zork trilogy by Infocom?

Boom, I just leveled up! Take that meaningful relationships!

dumbsaint

>open mailbox
>read leaflet

Anonymous

>open mailbox
>read leaflet

http://pulse.yahoo.com/_3XG27HF2HY56OGDDVGCNE5ZB3E Michael

I like the idea of retaining the old design while upgrading and adding more functionality for the new commodore 64. I can’t wait to have it back in my room.

http://pulse.yahoo.com/_3XG27HF2HY56OGDDVGCNE5ZB3E Michael

I like the idea of retaining the old design while upgrading and adding more functionality for the new commodore 64. I can’t wait to have it back in my room.